Device for adjusting guy lines



Nov. 29, 1949 L. P. FRI EDER ET AL ,5

DEVICE FOR ADJUSTING GUY LINES Filed Feb. 5, 1946 Patented Nov. 29, 1949 DEVICE FOR ADJUSTING GUY LINES Leonard P. Frieder, Great Neck, and Walter S. Finken, Brooklyn, N. Y.; said Finken assignor to said Frieder Application February 5, 1946, Serial No. 645,608

6 Claims.

This invention relates generally to the use of guy lines for various purposes including the erection of tents and has particular reference to improvements in devices for increasing or decreasing the eiiective lengths and tension upon lines of the character mentioned.

A main object of the invention is to provide a take-up and let-out device which is particularly useful in adjusting the tension on a guy line and which is simple and efficient in its operation in that it involves only the manual movement of a single operating member along the line in either direction according to the result desired. The construction is such that it avoids the use of clamping devices and similar contrivances to maintain an adjustment but it nevertheless maintains efiiciently any adjustment which has been made by movement of the operating member.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for the purpose indicated which is so constructed that its use eliminates cutting or chafing of the guy line. While as before indicated, the invention is particularly useful in connection with the guy ropes or lines it is, as will be apparent later on, capable of-use with mooring lines or lines and ropes employed for other purposes where it is necessary to take up sag or relieve undue strains.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists of a novel construction and relative arrangement of parts, an embodi- 4 ment of which is illustrated in the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specification, the features of novelty being set forth interior cavity ll, one end of which is covered by a removable closure l2 having shoulders I3 and I4 resting upon correspondingly shaped shoulders l5 and IS on the interior of the mem- Screws I! normally hold the closure in"; The closure l2 has a central opening 20, the side wall 35 of which is curved and rounded ber l0. place.

to eliminate all sharp corners.

The lower end 31 of the member ID is provided with two holes or openings 2| and 22, which are countersunk at their tops, the walls being so shaped at their upper and lower ends as to present no sharp corners or angles which might cause chafing.

When the device is in fully assembled condition the guy rope 23 has its lead portion 24 extending through the opening 20 and the opening 22 with the free end 25 of the rope extending through the opening Z'l into the cavity ll.

je ct to be guyed or held by the rope.

Within the cavity II the free end of the rope has a plurality of turns or coils 21 around the j lead portion of the rope. These turns start near Below the series of turns 21 the free end of the rope has a close turn 28 around the lead portion 24 of the rope the top of the cavity II.

and then extends up as at 29 across the exterior of the turns or coils 21, the final end being looped substantially as shown at 30 around the lead pore As a result, there is provided a slip-hitch consisting of coils or turns 21 and a half-hitch 28, 29, 30 which, among other tion 24 of the rope.

things, holds the turns against disarrangement.

In order further to hold the turns against dis- 1. arrangement and particularly to prevent the I turns 21 from binding or seizing so hard around' the portion 24 of the rope as to interfere with I.

subsequent operations, there is provided a series of washer rings or perforate discs 3|, as spacing members, loose on the lead portion of the rope .and interspersed with the turns of the slip-hitch. This feature is of particular importance in handling wet ropes. There are also provided washer rings or perforate discs 32 and 33 loose on the lead portion 24 and cooperating respectively with the closure l2 and the bottom wall of the cavity I l I to prevent the coil structure from being drawn 3 through the openings and 22. The disc 33 should be of a diameter which will not interfere with movements of the part of the rope extending through the opening 2|.

In assembling the device the closure I2 is detached and the lead line is threaded through the openings 29 and then successively through discs 32, 3| and 33 and then through the openings 22 and 2| in the base of the member ID. The slip-hitch and the half-hitch are then formed and the loop 26 used to pull the hitches into the cavity H. The closure I2 is then secured in position.

When the device is used, for example, for regulating the tension of a gu rope, the rope is secured at one end to the article to be guyed and" the loop 26 is engaged with, for example, a tent stake or peg. A movement by hand of the member I0 forward or backward along the rope will tighten or loosen the tension on the rope. at the end of such a movement, the hand releases the member IS the tension on the portion of the rope causes the coils or turns 2! of the slip-hitch to tighten and crimp the lead 24 where it passes through the coils, the crimping effect being greatest when low tension is applied on the portion 23 of the lead and diminishing as the tension increases. crease in the diameter of the lead portion 24 of the rope as the tension increases until that portionreaches its maximum elongation.

lit-will be noted that the slip-hitch differs from the ordinary midshipmans hitch in that it may be slid on the rope to form a loop of any desired size and then act to prevent slippage, while a midshipmans hitch when under tension will slide relative to the rope to diminish the size of the loop and seize on an object placed within the loo While the invention has been described in detail with reference to a particular embodiment it will be obvious to those skilled in the art thatthe construction is capable of modification and adaptation according to circumstances of the use, and it is not the desire to be limited by anything herein contained except to the extent indicated by the claims which .follow.

What is claimed is:

L .A device for adjusting the tension on a guy line .or the like comprising a hollow manually operable member through which the line extends, a loop in the line, to engage a tent peg or the like, said loop comprising a return portion of the line, having a free end which extends back into the interior of the hollow member, a slip hitch When,

This is exemplified by deof the line around the line and a half hitch of said free end spanning said turns and secured around the guy line and spacing members between said turns, said turns being disposed in series along the line with the aforesaid return portion extending from the end of the series remote from the loop.

3. In a device for regulating the tension of a guy rope, a hollow spool through which a lead portion of the guy rope extends and into which the free end of the rope extends back thereby providing a peg engaging loop extending from one end of the spool, said loop comprising a part of said lead portion and a return portion, a slip hitch within the spool consisting of a plurality of turns of the free end of the rope around the lead portion of the rope within the spool, spacing rings around the lead portion of the rope and between said turns, and a half hitch consisting of a portion of the free end of the rope drawn around the lead portion of the rope above and below said turns, said turns being disposed in series along the line with the aforesaid return portion extending from the end of the series remote from the loop.

4. In a device for regulating the tension of a guy rope, a hollow spool having a removable apertured closure at one end, a guy rope extending through said closure and spool, said rope having a free end which extends back into the spool to provide a peg-engaging loop extending from the other end of the spool, said loop comprising a lead portion and a return portion of the rope, a slip hitch within the spool consisting of a series of turns of the free end of the ropearound the lead portion of the rope within the spool, the return portion extending from the end .of said series remote from the loop, spacing rings around the lead portion of the rope and between said turns, a half hitch consisting of a portion of the free end of the rope looped around the lead portion of the rope above and below said turns, rings around the lead portion of the rope above and below the ends of the half hitch for limiting movements of the aforesaid turns and 'half hitch within the spool, said closure for the spool being removable to give access to the interior .of the spool.

"provide a central opening at one end and a pair Within the manually operable member comprising a plurality of turns of the free end of the loop around the line within the manually Operable member, a half hitch of said free end spanning said turns, and washer rings around the line spacing said turns apart, said turns being disposed in series along the line with the aforesaid return portion extending from the end of the series remote from theloop.

2. In a device of the character described, a hollow manually operable device constructed to provide a central opening at one end and a pair of spaced apart openings at its other end, a guy line extending through said central opening and one of the pair of openings, a tent peg engaging loopin the line, said loop comprising a return portion of the line, having a free end which extends back through the other of said pair .of openings, a slip hitch Within the hollow member comprising a plurality of turns of the free end of spaced apart openings at its other end, a guy line extending through said central opening and one of the pair of openings, a tent peg engaging loop in the line, said loop comprising a return portion of the line, having a free end which extends back through the other of said pair of openings, and a slip hitch within the hollow member comprising a plurality of turns of the free end of the line around the line and a half hitch of said free end spanning said turns and secured around the guy line said turns being disposed in series along the line with the aforesaid return portion extending from the end of the series remote from the loop, said slip hitch constituting a knot which is the sole connection of the guy line, and the aforesaid device comprising means at both its ends respectively engageable with the said slip hitch for displacing 5 the latter when the device is moved in either direction along the guy line.

6. In a device of the character described, in combination, a load-carrying line having a lead portion and a return portion which constitute a terminal loop of the line, a slip hitch of said return portion around said lead portion directly securing said portions together, and comprising a plurality of turns of the return portion around the lead portion and a half hitch of the return portion spanning said turns, said slip hitch being adapted to crimp and hold said lead portion relative to the return portion on exertion of tension in said line relative to said terminal loop thereof and being adapted to slip on the line in each direction for respectively enlarging and diminishing said loop when said hitch is positively displaced axially of the line, a hollow device enclosing said hitch and apertured at its ends for passage respectively of said line and of the said lead and return portions of the loop,

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Gregory July 11, 1905 OTHER REFERENCES PublicationEncyclopedia of Knots and Fancy Rope Work, (plate 322) by GraWrnont-Hansell, published by Cornell Maritime Press, 1945.

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